


Who Taught You How To Hate

by ASCII42



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Attempt to add depth to villians, Drug Use, Gray Jedi, Mind Rape, Multi, Order 66, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rebellion, Rebellions are build on hope, Sith, Sith Control Everything, Slavery, Yoda is full of shit, actions have consequences, eventually, the jedi are not totally innocent, time line changes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-09-13 22:53:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9145684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASCII42/pseuds/ASCII42
Summary: "This is everything we have on Anakin Skywalker. Former member of the Jedi; traitors to the empire. Current head of the terrorist organization known as the Resistance. He's ruthless, dangerous, and brilliant." The bounty hunter placed the stack of data pads in front of him. He took a minute looking through them with an increasing frown on his face. "We've been hired to kill him" he continued, "and we were told you could help.""This is wrong." The man pointed to a spot on the pad"What's that supposed to mean" the hunter huffed a little indignant as he had gathered the data himself."It means that's not what happened." He set the pad down with a thump. Face shifting further into a frown till it was almost a sneer. "I think you don't know the half of it.....Let me tell you about General Skywalker"





	1. Boots and Blood

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a work that I originally posted on another account on AO3. The account is now orphaned. I deleted it when I started college and for some reason thought this meant I had to be an adult. Then I realized that one, that's stupid. And two I'm emotionally dependent on writing these things and love them too much to let them go. How can I not after putting that much time into them. 
> 
> But this is the same work (with a few edits) that is on the account I orphaned.

The ground was slick with mud from the constant rain. Nothing grew here anymore. Maybe as recently as a month ago flowers and weeds could have been seen sticking up through the dirt hoping to cling to life. But now that had all long since been trampled over, smashed by the thousands of soldiers and blown to bits. The massive battlefield scarred with trenches dough into the mud. Shock wire and mines running around and out from them in every direction. The no man's land in between the two armies was littered with the dead. Inside the trenches crawled with rats, bugs, constantly, they were in the mud and the mud got in everything. Just like the damned sand on Tatooine. The air stank of burnt flesh and rot. Rain came and ended in abrupt waves. Never with enough time for things to dry properly. Nothing was ever quiet here bombs dropping, people shouting, crying. Even in the rare hours of the night when the camp seemed to calm its self slightly and the guns stopped, the constant hum the to star destroyer's parked overhead, still seemed to drown out everything. And right now quiet was a foreign concept. The ground shook under them, everything was too loud to think as cannon and mortar rained down on the trenches. Battle droids marched across no man's land. Completely apathetic to their own that were falling by the dozens along the way. Using their bodies as stepping stones to march across the death trap.

  
The 501st and the 212th had been essentially pinned down for days. Food and water was running out and reinforcements were at least a week away. Although it hardly mattered when they would have ran out of water, they were being overrun by clankers. Reinforcements a week from now would be a week too late. They would arrive to find nothing but bodies and a seppie occupied planet. Their troops were spread too thin. They were losing this war. But more immediately they were losing this battle. The 501st had already lost more than a third off their infantry. Normally that loss would be morally depressing but not tactically devastating. But they were being literally trampled over by battle droids that outnumbered them three to one. The seppies could send more troops and keep sending more troops. Every man the 501st lost was one more step towards its death. But they'd been ordered to hold the fort, although fort might be a generous word. And so hold it they would.

  
General Anakin Skywalker stood at the front of his troops with a blaster in one hand and a lightsaber in the other. Dressed in black in the simple t-shirt and loose pants, designed to carry gear and allow for movement, that had become custom for the Jedi during war time. His hair was cropped just a little too long; scar over one eye. Eyes that blazed the same shade of blue as his saber. He had not been spared the filth of the trenches any more than any of his troops had. Dirt and blood caked his face and clothing mixing together so from this distance, CT-7567, Captian Rex, wasn’t sure how much blood he had lost out of his left arm. But he suspected it was a lot. The clone ducked as one of the bombs dropped particularly close spraying shrapnel around them. When he finally glanced back up he felt his heart drop for a minute at the hulking outline of tanks creeping across the field. Yep, they were up shit creek now.

  
Rex was standing maybe twenty feet away from Skywalker. In the cover of the trench with Padawan Commander Tano. While the General stood up top like a flaming target. The Commander tried to join him but her Master barked at her to get back down and the Tortuga complied with a grudging look on her face.

  
Rex knew his General pretty damned well. And he knew that look is his eye. But the hapless noob clone beside him didn’t even have the sense to think, oh shit. Rex would blame himself for this later. But right now he didn’t have time to do anything but duck.

  
Skywalker yelled. An animal feral sound born of frustration and pain. He pushed with the force landing himself in the middle of a squad of droids. Exactly as intended. He took the nose off a few blasters at a time, decapitated one, cut the legs from another. Then took off running making it about 50 feet before dodging behind a crashed tank for cover. He wiped mud out of his eyes, stinging with smoke. Three droids came up from behind him. To the left. Thankfully standard battle droids were loud clumsy machines. Dodging on blast he got off three of his own and three steel heads fell. A live tank rolled right up on him. Completely oblivious to his presence behind its deadened counterpart. He grinned.

  
The first tank was like a stepping stone. He flung himself up the side onto the top and over to the live tank jamming a saber where he hoped the driver would be and struggling to hold his balance on the wet steel. If he was lucky and the bastard was slow. Luck as it would have it was not on his side. He'd always thought that whoever designed the seppie equipment was a kirffing idot. Every damned day he thanked his lucky stars for that and today was no different. Tanks weren't really designed to hurt people sitting on top of them. From inside he sensed the drivers panic and whole thing jolted sideways. He almost busted out laughing seeing the intet to late. The hill was small but it was enough. The vehicle went sideways off of it and tipped. He tried to jump while the solid surface disappeared from beneath his feet as the tank rolled. Landing thrown sideways; he hit the ground hard. His left shoulder flared in pain. Dislocated. It was a clinical observation. Made in the same light someone would note a rusted droid part. Only relevant as far it limited his mobility. He stood up, turned on his saber and called it to him. Wedging out a whole in the overturned tank in the process, and tossed a grenade.

  
It clinked into place. He lunged a few desperate steps away. The life inside it gave out a pulse of terror before going out completely. In te same instate the explosion hit him from behind; throwing his battered frame into the ground again. He tried to stand, pushing himself up with his hands; spitting dirt and blood. His legs fought him, numb from cold, stubbornly refusing to steady. He was hurt, shaking, lungs struggling to inhale through the smoke. Damned near made a run back for cover. As he got his feet back underneath him his saw it. Some opportunities were just too good to pass up.

Earlier that day.....

General Skywalker walked the camp with Ahsoka and Rex by his side. Weaving through the small rooms and narrow dirt walls not really big enough for two people to walk side by side. Giving comfort and encouraging words where they could. The men were in a desperate state and they knew it. From the reports and what the force told him; the 212th was in worse condition. They had taken a hard beating from constant attacks along the borders.The battalion had been completely blockaded from the incoming supply shipments for longer than the 501st had. The clones discipline was incredible, but not perfect. They would start cracking eventually. As was evidence in his own battalion as a fight broke out not 20 yards away from him. The two men completely oblivious to the presence of their commanding officers.

  
Rex glanced at his General for permission before picking up a rock and hurling it a said clones. They broke away from each other one of them turning ready to lash out at whoever had dared to interrupt their fight. He stopped cold when he Skywalker. Frozen in place as his eyes did a dance between the three of them.  
“Is there a problem here gentlemen?” Anakin asked. Voice hard and his brow arched in condescending sarcasm. Fighting was fine when they were safely anonymous in hyperspace. In the protection of a fleet with state of the art medical. Here it was just sloppy. The clones damned well knew that and Anakin made no attempt to hide his exasperation.

  
“I'm sorry sir it's just....” He seemed to think better of it and shut his mouth standing at attention instead.

  
“Go on.” Anakin insisted; walking around the clone with a calculated scan.

  
“Well, it just...,” he stammered “It's just that that was my sandwich, sir!” It came out as an indignant sputter. He looked miserable, mud covering his armor, cheeks just starting to hollow out from hunger. It wasn't much but Anakin could see he was shaking from the cold. He bled desperation into the force.

  
Rations were short, Anakin understood. But that didn't change it. Ahsoka started laughing behind him. The clone looked thoroughly humiliated so he didn’t stop her. The more he could imprint mortification onto said clone the better. “Rex. What do you think is an appropriate disciplinary action in this situation?”

  
The standard would be 3 weeks extra PT as soon as the mission was over. But he didn’t think Skywalker was looking for the standard answer. “A month garbage detail sir..... and a month 4 am patrol.” Rex watched the other clone face carefully. He didn’t know the clones name personally, but he had overheard a conversation the other day about a hatred of early morning patrols. Ahsoka started laughing harder and Rex glances at her with a fond look. Now Skywalker looked like he was on the verge of dropping the annoyance, that the Captain suspected was a ruse to begin with.

  
“Make it so. Both of them.” He ordered. Surveying the two clones and glaring at the one in the back who had avoided most of the heat. "And sort this out. Like you have a kirffing brain this time."

  
As they continued their walk the amusement quickly fell from everyone’s faces. Ahsoka surveyed the men. Some slouched, huddling for warmth against the rain. Others scrambled to get work done. Grim looks of exhaustion set on their faces. Her Master looked like he was ready to collapse. Face pale and heavy bags drawn under his eyes. Some of the usual energy had been drained out of him and he moved with the same determined exhaustion as the soldiers. During the last bombardment, he took a piece of shrapnel to the arm. But there running low on medical supplies and he refused to get it looked at. Stemming the bleeding with an impromptu bandage. “Master do.....”  
She never got to finish the sentence as the alarms blared. The ground trembling with the first explosions as the camp was thrown into scarcely ordered chaos.

Flashback....

Anakin is 12 and reckless. By now he's been a Padawan for about a year having been given the official rank a year earlier than the normal limit. Maybe it was to soon but the clone wars have just broken out and everyone is being pushed forward as the Republic struggles to find enough troops. But that’s okay because he's sure he can handle it. He doesn’t let himself think about what would happen if he lost. Obi-Wan orders him to stop and pull back but Anakin doesn’t listen. He hacks his way through a group of seppie soldiers and jumps straight on top of the shuttle slamming his saber down in the the power control conduit. A couple of seconds later the ship blows up lighting the night sky and the corpses on the ground beneath. He jumps but not quite fast enough and spends the next two days in a bacta tank for the burns. And the next month grounded from field work by his Master for not following orders. Nothing changes.

Current time.....

  
He stands several hundred feet about the ground. On top of the ship, a C-9979 landing craft, dual wing sets stretching out to either side. It's probably carrying reinforcements. He watched as his stolen bomber, now lacking a piolet, ran on the collision course he'd set it. Into the command ship's shield generators. It might take them out or it might not. But it would sure as hell do more than scratch the paint. He turns, sprints a few yards across the hull and jams his saber into the shield generator. Then flips himself over the side, metal biting into his hand. And hangs just long enough to cut the stabilizers. He forgets his arm and the fraction of a movement it took nearly knocks him out from the pain. When he lets go it's deliberate. He drops.

  
The ship goes into a lopsided fall. Straight towards one of its own battalions. It's big enough, a little under 150 meters from wingtip to wingtip, that it will crush the whole thing if it hits right. Anakin slams the force into the ground, breaking his speed a few yards off the ground. He lands in a light crouch. It looks graceful but the shock runs up through his leg and he only just keeps is footing.

  
He's way behind enemy lines now. Under fire from all sides, he starts to cut his way back. Or at least towards cover. Distantly he's aware of the futility, but that's never stopped him before. His left arms useless. Without a gun sabers sill cut through droids like butter. Front off of a blaster, arms off of another, head off of one. Its fire goes wide and knocks a commando drops in the chest. Funniest damned thing he's seen all day.

  
A soldier lunges at him, shooting. Not a droid but flesh and blood. A Commander. He moves faster than the soldier's brain can process and carved his gun arm off at the elbow, drove a kick to his gut, saber through his neck. As the man fell behind him as he heard the gunships flying up on the far side. Just making it out of the way before they start shooting. He turned to fend off the blasters. Body and mind two steps ahead of the present.

He hissed under his breath "Fuck". There was no opening to get off the ground and take out the ship and the first was rapidly being joined by more. He turned to run only to be surrounded by magnagards; staffs burning with electricity. He was taking fire from all angles. One rushed at him and a blaster bolt from the gunship caught him in the leg. It went numb and he stumbled not dropping his guard; unbalanced for barely a fraction of a second. A fraction of a second too long. Because then his legs were being taken out from under him and pain laced through his body at the staff being jammed into his thigh. He lashed out with the saber and took one of the droids legs off to avoid another jab that would have paralyzed him while they shot him but the motion left his torso open and the last thing he thought was, "Why the fuck are they using stun bolts?"

A few hundred yards away, Ahsoka Tano freezes. It's like someone just pressed the pause button. She takes a blaster bolt to the shoulder and Rex reaches to catcher her fall.


	2. Land Of Confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I should probably clarify for the rest of the story. In this AU one of the major difference is that Anakin didn't meet Padme until he was 19 and already knighted.

  
General Obi-Wan Kenobi, in command of the 212th, looked over the destruction below him from his position on the gunship. He stood, hand casually resting on his saber. Camo brown combat gear standing out from the white and gold painted armor of the troopers. His usually immaculate beard was starting to look haggard. Short hair tangled and blew sideways as the wind screamed around them. The scene below them was hardly different from any other he had seen throughout the course of the Clone Wars. Bodies and droid parts lay scattered in every direction. Tanks and artillery in various states of damage. Some inoperable, some just abandoned. The air stank like burning flesh and metal. Some places were still smoldering, crashed ships and bombs that refused to be completely doused by the rain. Already their own droids had moved in and begun to clean up. Separatist bodies were moved to one side, Republic to the other. It wasn't the way of the Jedi to be sentimental. Once a person was dead a body was just a body. But most of the people who died here had not been Jedi.

  
Currently however he was more concerned with the living. The ship touched down beside the rubble of the crashed carrier and his team fanned out, orders transmitted with a quick glance and a nod. At his right, the wreckage of the ship seemed massive and hulking. This one had crashed straight into a battalion of droids. Massacring most of them along with the ship's crew. It was unlikely there was anyone still alive here. After the ship had crashed the fuel conduit had exploded engulfing the whole thing in flames that were still burning in places. But, Republic or Separatist it was their duty to help anyone they found. He watched a group of clones to his right as they found a poor person unlucky enough to still be alive after her body had been mostly burnt to a crisp. He can't tell the species for sure but it was female. One leg severed just above the knee. There's no blood but it's not clean enough to have been a lightsaber. It must have been cauterized when the rest of her caught on fire. She's not trying to move or speak. Just lying there, but he can see the rise and fall of her chest, sense her pain. Seeing she's to far gone to save one of the clones pulls out a blaster and quickly puts and end to her suffering. He sighs. She was the first but she probably won't be the last.

  
As they continued their search in the waning light Obi-Wan can't seem to block his worry. Anakin still hasn't checked in yet. He tried to tell himself It was most likely just Anakin being Anakin. But he felt muted in the force. Not gone. More like he's unconscious. That or he, or someone else, is hiding his force signature. Although there is absolutely nothing he can do about that now. He's already been assigned to assist in the effort to search for survivors and if Anakin is injured but alive somewhere they have as much chance as any other team of finding him. If he's being honest with himself, which he's not, it's the only reason he's here in the first place. He and his troops have been starved out under constant bombardment by all right he should have complied with the first response teams and allowed himself to spend probably the next week in medical. Which he would still probably have to do eventually. But right now, still running on straight adrenaline and with Anakin's whereabouts unknown to him; he needs to stay conscious and keep himself distracted till he at least knew where his former padawan was.

Flashback....

Anakin is 15 and a little broken. He's seen to much blood to understand why how it messes him up and more often than not Obi-Wan has to drag him in from some dive somewhere. Once Obi-Wan actually looses his Jedi detachment for a second and yells at the bartender for sell drugs to a 15-year-old. The bartender just responds that “He was old enough.” with a blank look on his face. Obi-Wan regrets ever teaching Anakin mind tricks. Anakin loses his temper and gets into fights. When they're not on missions he's doing all the drugs he can find and sleeping with anyone he can hook up with. The Jedi forbid attachment, not sex. He gets in a brawl and gets arrested. The only reason the police managed to take him in at all is he was too high to put up a fight.- and he's being put in a cell, and the war blends in with everything else, and he doesn’t know where he is.

  
Current time....

  
They continue at an agonizingly slow pace, so the scanners can pick up anything valuable. Whether that may be, active mines or a life still hiding in the carnage. His head starts to ache and it occurs to him he hasn't eaten in over 48 hours. The scent of death hangs in the air. The force bleeds pain of events only hours past. He isn't sure how long it's been when his personal comlink beeps interrupting the low hum of rather disturbing conversations that filtered in from the various groups of clones searching through the rubble.

"This is Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Master Kenobi. Do you know where Anakin is?" Ahsoka's voice was clean and steady. Anyone who didn't know her would never have guessed she was worried.

"No Ahsoka I don't. I'm on of the search team right now, looking for survivors. If he's here we'll find him. I already got Rex's report. He said you Froze. Ahsoka what happened?"

"I felt his force presence..... not go out exactly....more like he'd been knocked unconscious. And out it just feels.....dulled."

Obi-Wan mentally cursed at the confirmation. Not that he really could have been wrong. "I know Ahsoka I feel it too. But there are hundreds listed as missing and Anakin is no more or less important than any of them."

"I'm aware if that." It was perfectly calm, just a statement. But Obi-Wan suspected there was something masked behind it. "I'm getting on one of the search teams and...."

Plo Koon's voice interrupted from her side of the com-link. "You took a blaster bolt to the shoulder. You've been unconscious for the last two hours and you're not going anywhere until the bacta has done its job."

"Master Plo is correct. You will do no good to anyone if you fall over on search patrol." Obi-Wan winced a little at his own hypocrisy. Anakin took after him more than people realized. And she certainly took after Anakin.

There was a long pause over the com-link. "Yes, Master Kenobi."

He sighed again as he turned off the com, then mentally scolded himself. The sigh was a coping mechanism but also far too obvious to anyone paying close enough attention. He wasn't sure where he'd picked up the habit but needed to break it. Blaster fire had him automatically reaching for his lightsaber. Only to look over and see a group of shiny's, shooting at nothing. Guns pointed up in the air whooping and hollering at something unknown to him. He clipped the still unlit saber back into his belt, nerves fried.

Night had almost fallen as Rex barked out orders to the 501st. Head swimming trying to keep everything straight as he was bombarded with a stream of, damage reports, tactical updates, casualty lists..... With the two Jedi in command of his battalion both currently missing. He was using that word very lightly as the only thing he currently knew is that they weren't where he was. But with both of them missing the chain of command on the ground fell to him. While command of the ships fell to the captain of the Resolute. He was standing in the muck blood and shit that covered the field of burned droid parts intermingled with the bodies of his fallen brothers. Slowly they the field was being cleared. Bodies taken away. But it was a slow arduous process. The ground had been littered with mines. And not all seppie bombs exploded on impact. About half of those exploded later. It made this tedious.

  
Force he hoped they got Skywalker back. For all his respect for Commander Tano, she was far from ready for the big chair. It would most likely still be a few years still before the order promoted her to Knight. If Skywalker didn't come back they would be assigned a new General. Most of the squadron would probably be split up.  
As a Captain, Rex had spent a lot of time working closely with the Jedi. Most of them were, at heart, good. They genuinely wanted to protect life. Protect peace as the Jedi were supposed to do. The problem came when they failed to recognize that clones also fell into that category. Or when war, as it had a way of doing to even the Jedi, skewed their perceptions of what they were protecting. Basic graces, compassion, optimism, forgiveness; sometimes they couldn't be afforded. But sometimes they could. When life, and others lives, becomes purely a ledge of profit and loss, ideals, morality, tended to slip. There's no reason to anything. All you have are pluses and minuses. He had worked closely with enough Jedi to know not to trust them blindly.

  
But opposed to what the holonet seemed to think the universe did not actually revolve around General Skywalker. Pulling himself out of that train of thought Rex turned to Kix to ask him for the latest update on casualty numbers. Except Kix wasn't there anymore. He was standing about 10 feet to the left blaster drawn. Staring at nothing, face scrunched up like he was in pain.

  
"Kix. Kix snap out of it." Rex reached out hesitantly and put a hand on his shoulder. Nothing changed. Then Kix started visibly shaking and Rex saw it. The figure blended almost perfectly into the night. If she hadn't moved he might never have noticed. But her stride certainly didn't speak of someone trying not to get noticed. By now every blaster in sight was raised. Except Kix's was pointed the wrong way.

  
"Take than gun", Ventress said "and put it to your head." She spoke slowly. Almost as if it was meant to be sensual. But Rex couldn't imagine anything coming from her ever seeming sensual. She was completely bald. Figure was hard and lean. Maybe that could have been appealing in some other species but on her it just looked sickly. Black painted lips moved from a tight frown to leer as Kix obeyed shaking even more as his arm moved without his consent.

"Go ahead. He'll be happy to die for the 501st. And I'll get to kill you."

"Don't worry clone. I don't have any reason to hurt him he's just insurance. Besides, even if you tried what are the odds you could kill me without your Jedi." Several of the men close enough to hear the conversation scowled there guns never wavered but it was written on there faces. If the bounty hunter had captured Skywalker..... But there was no way she should have known Ahsoka wasn't here. "No it wasn't me who captured him. I'm here because someone payed me to deliver a message." Ventress held out a box in her hand and placed it on the ground backing away slowly. When she got far enough she launched back. Gone almost instantly in the dark of the unsecured wreckage they were sifting through. A few seconds later the blaster dropped from Kix's head and he visibly tried to regain control of his heart rate.

There was a wet sucking sound as one of the clones attempted to unstick his boot from the mud but Rex held his hand up. Stalling anyone who was thinking of getting close to the thing that was probably an IED. He crouched down examining the metal as much as he could without moving any closer and potentially setting it off.

"Someone get me a scanner." a minute later the clone that had run off reappeared with the device. Staring at it intently for a moment with an increasing look of confusion.

"It's just a box sir. There's something inside it but as far as this scanner can tell, it's harmless."

The scanners would find anything from bio-weapons to light stun shielding. Satisfied, and ignoring Kix's objection, he walked up opened tried to open the lid. A little to his surprise it opened easily with nothing but a simple latch keeping it closed. But now he understood why someone had payed Asajj Ventress to deliver it. Of course the scanner would never have picked that up. His jaw clenched. Kriffing hells. Apparently the universe did revolve around General Skywalker.

"Call General Kenobi. Tell him.....Tell him he needs to see this."

days later......

Obi-Wan tossed the lightsaber lightly his hand. Anakin's lightsaber. He was back to the picture of Jedi prefection, althoug he still dawned combat gear. He'd just finished up two other meetings and it had become clear there was a mole somewhere. No other way Ventress could have known that Ahsoka was injured. Or where to find Rex. But for now he was sure that that mole wasn't in this room. The search teams had finished there sweeps of the planet and the last of the wreckage was finally being hauled off. Although that said nothing for the repairs or the time it would take the planet to recover. The 212th had taken quite a few casualties. But admittedly they hadn't lost as many men as he'd thought. The tactics used had been as much psychological as physical. Shelling them 24/7. Constant attacks on there perimeter defenses. Starving them out. However the casualties they'd taken had been light compared to the 501st in the last hours of the battle. Starved outnumbered and outgunned; they would have taken heavy losses no matter what. Clones were extremely competent solders but with both the battalions Jedi absent it had been worse. Anakin's stunt may have won them the battle. But the absence of there Jedi had cost lives. And now Anakin was paying for it. So were the four of them, Himself, Captain Rex, Admiral Yularen, and Padawan Ahsoka, seated around a table in a small conference room on board the Resolute.

  
He steadied himself and started the meeting. "From a strictly tactical perspective the information Anakin knows has the potential to cripple to the war effort. Codes he has officially can be changed." Kenobi paused trying to guess the scope of Anakin's intelligence network. "Unofficially........Ahsoka were you privy to any of Anakin's contacts?"  
She was putting on a decided effort to act like a Jedi. And mostly succeeding. But anyone who knew her would notice she hadn't spoken sense the meeting started. And Obi-Wan being closer to her, could feel nervous energy leaking through her shields at unsteady intervals. "Not all of it." Yularen shot her a look. "You know how it is Admiral everyone has there own sources. He told me when I needed to know. But if that information were to..... From what I pieced together at least 3 fleets, the Senate, and several Jedi Matters I can't discuss at this table would be compromised."

  
"What do we know." He said "Summarize."

  
Rex spoke first. "I saw the General jump at that droid squad then I lost track of him, sir. Until a blue saber turned up on top of that ship, that minutes later crashed into a droid battalion."

  
Ahsoka broke in "It was just after that I felt his force presence dim. Whatever it was, happened fast. It was there and then it wasn't. When I try to contact him through our bond it feels like running into a wall. There are a few things that could cause that. Skywalker could be deliberately hiding his force signature.... or his connection from the force could be cut off." She explained for the non-Jedi.

  
As Anakin had been Knighted years ago Obi-Wan's force bond to him was nothing more than that of a close friend but he had tried none the less and gotten the same result. "In that case given the evidence I have no choice but to declare him presumed POW." The words sounded rehearsed. Like he had had to recite them in his head just to get them out. No one objected. None of them seemed like they wanted to look up from the table in front of them. Ahsoka curled in on herself a little although the motion was more in the force than visible. Kenobi continued, refusing to dwell for to long. "Rex, the 501st will be temporally stationed with me along with the 212th. Until this report officially clears through the council and your reassigned."

  
"Yes, sir."

  
"The search effort will begin as soon as we can afford to delegate resources towards it."

  
"Does anyone else have something." He asked. Already seeing the answer in the subdued faces around the room. The meeting had been short, really just been a formality. It was already spelled out in front of them. Kenobi got up and started quickly towards the door the others following.

  
Admiral Yularen pulled Rex aside waiting till to two Jedi had left to speak. "In your professional opinion as a soldier, do you think there's a real security threat?"

  
"Sir, In my professional opinion; I think that General Skywalker would take his own life before he betrayed the Republic." 


	3. Color Coded Blasphemy

Pain. There's so much pain. He can't see. Obi-wan tries to thrash away from it only to discover he can't move either. His limbs are pinned down. Body trapped against frozen concrete. The air smells sickly and he gags from it. A hand almost gently caresses his cheek. 

Theirs a voice in his head, reaching in and forcing itself into his mind.  It sounds distorted like someone is speaking through a ventilator. " _You'll do everything we want eventually_." The hand pulls away from his cheek. All he can hear is the thing breathing, it's deafening. Distantly Obi-wan's aware that he's not hearing it at all. His mind is being ripped open and it's just inside his head. It doesn't sound natural, It's mechanical. And it makes his blood run cold. He tries to reach out with the force to get a bearing to do something, anything. There's nothing there, it's gone. The force is gone. Desperately, he tries to shove down the panic.  

Obi-wan wakes himself screaming. Frantically trying to free himself from the blankets he falls in an uncoordinated mess onto the floor. These are his quarters on the negotiator. It's completely dark and he's not all the way awake; still half trapped in the dream. A voice in his head is shouting, but this one doesn't feel violating, it just feels terrified. "Obi-Wan help me. Please. Please, Obi-Wan." Anakin's voice begs.

  
He slams the lights on trying to reorient himself with reality. Stumbling into the fresher he hangs with his head over the toilet for a minute, knees pressed into the cold tile until he manages to push down the nausea enough he's sure he won't hurl.

  
_Calm your breathing._ He thinks and starts doing steady breaths with a five count in and out. He seats himself cross-legged on the carpet beside his bed. _Find five things you can see_. He looks around. There's the bed in front of him. Wight blankets now thrown off onto the floor, pillow soaked with sweat. To his left is the dresser, very modern and somehow managing to match the military feel of the rest of the star destroyer, down to the gunmetal color. The lamp top of it is simple. A plane tan shade. Yet unlit and he turns it on with a thought, determined to flood the room with as much light as possible. To his right is the door. Locked now, appearing nothing more than an indent in the wall. In the ceiling are the harsh white lights that cover everything on board.

  
_Four things you can hear_. He can hear his own steady breaths. The slight hissing of the ventilation system.....That's about it. He moves on. _Three things you can feel._ He feels the carpet under his fingers, The soft fabric of his night clothes against his legs. The texture of his hair as he brushes it out of his eyes, It's getting too long again. _Two things you can smell._ The industrial soap used to wash his clothes. The lingering scent of candles for meditation. _One thing you can taste_. He swishes his tongue around it his mouth and immediately gets up for some mouth wash.

  
He's slept in too late. Something that very rarely happens. But 16 minutes later he arrives in the hanger bay. Exactly Two minutes behind schedule. Their ship, a small shuttle generally used my merchants is sitting prepped not 50 feet away from the launch pad and landing strip. It offers an impressive view of the stars, looking sideways threw up the slit above the launch of the massive hanger. It's one Kenobi has seen many times and takes little note of.

  
"Let me guess, the astromech spilled oil on your jacket again, right."

  
"Ahsoka....."

  
"No, I've got it your haveing a bad hair day. It's okay I hear that's quite common actually....."

  
"Ahsoka!" He shoots her his best disapproving master look. She raises her hands in fake surrender. Still not keeping the grin off her face. Cody tries and fails to stifle a laugh. They're all dressed in civilian clothing. Obi-wan's saber and blaster carefully concealed under the brown coat. Ahsoka has opted for knee high boots and a leather jacket. Under which she surely has enough of an arsenal to take the citadel.

  
The hatch seals. The Springhill was a JS-77B Interstellar Shuttle. It's an awkward box of a shuttle designed for cargo transport. But it's inconspicuous. The interior had clearly seen better days. The once well-furnished seats ripping and tearing at the edges. It smells as if the cleaning crew had been especially through with the disinfectant.

  
"This is Captian Cody piloting Springhill. Requesting clearance for take off."

  
"Captian you have clearance." A voice chipped over the radio

  
Kenobi took a seat and nodded. "Take us out then." The Springhill took off a reasonable speed. Running almost lazily along its set path.

  
He looked over at Ahsoka. Trying to judge her mental state without prying. She looked fine. On the outside, she was the picture of Jediness. Kenobi doubted it was true. Her Master had been POW for 9 days now. 

  
"Have you sensed anything from the force." He askes her.

  
"No. Nothing but the same fog I've been running into for weeks." She looks at him. Eye's full of badly concealed hope.

  
The ship jumps to hyperspace.

  
He'd already opted not to tell her about the dream, vision? he'd had. At least for the moment. Whatever it was would only serve to distract her now. Instead, he just gave a small shake of his head. Not trusting his voice to speak. His shields were up but he knew his eyes had betrayed him when he saw her face change. It's wasn't much. Just a tiny way her brown pinched. But it was enough. She'd already seen his worry. 

  
The rest of the shuttle ride passed in a somewhat tense silence. Cirrus was a beautiful planet. With its golden seas and gleaming cities. But the impact was somewhat lessened by what the force had to say. Holo posters and billboards covered walls, announcing curfew at sundown. The bronze of battle droids spotted the streets. Matching in with the city so well it was a kind of cruel irony. And so like any other violently occupied planet, the force bled fear. The state the plant was in, the occupation was....not good. It wasn't so bad as some other planets he had seen, but enough. Unfortunately, it ranked fairly low in galactic importance and they didn't have the resources to do anything about it at present. The streets were dried up and abandoned. Most people shut in their homes, doors locked tight.

 

Droids may not be smart. But they were cheap and easy to mass produce. And they were the perfect weapon for fighting Jedi. For the simple reason that they are not alive. They can't be sensed. And they're minds can't force tricked. They're not susceptible to all the emotions that Jedi so love to play with. It made something in the back of Kinobies head itch, being surrounded by droids and so exposed, no backup.

  
Night has just set in. Ahsoka and him walked down the street, hoods drawn up, crisp night air brushing against them. Cody had stayed with the shuttle. Anyone would recognize a clone. 

  
The building they came to was unassuming. Another factory in a series of streets lined with them. It was a rustic block of a thing, nearly as wide as it was tall. 10 stories, designed for a race like enough to humans to have the same basic structure. Whatever its original purpose had been the separatists had repurposed it as a weapons plant. The local population willing or unwilling were used for labor. As they tread behind it, he notes the patrols. Scarce, lightly armed. Not expecting anyone serious to break in.

  
For all the lightsabers advantages discrete is one thing they're not. They're loud, bright. And very few things in the galaxy look quite like the way a lightsaber tears things apart. It's a weapon that screams Jedi at the top of its lungs. Blasters, however, are wielded by every small time thief, bandit, and thug, in the galaxy, and they can be silenced. 

  
Around back, they stand leaning against the wall of the opposite building. The alley is narrow, maybe 12 feet across. Still, the droids take no note of them as they round the factory. Ahsoka draws her blaster and there's a couple of quick pops as the muted weapon fires. Three hits, three kills. He presses against the factory wall and motions for Ahsoka to do the same.

She shoots over his shoulder and the rusted hinges on the door break off, clanging loudly as metal hits metal.But if anyone noticed anything strange it's unlikely they care enough to do something about it. A little bit of the force nudges the door out of the way. 

  
Inside the factory is decaying. Walls covered in rust. Broken parts lay haphazardly scattered around. Sounds of machinery filter down the hallways, lights flickering in time to them. The air smells of something metallic. like someone spilled a couple of barrels of it and never bothered to clean it up. Oppressive heat fills his lungs and presses against him. The force whispers and they duck around a corner while a couple of overburdened workers walk past. A couple of minutes

A couple of minutes later they stand in front of Captian Rackham Sear's office. Dressed in tattered brown cloaks. Pants that may originally have been the same color but have been patched and repaired too many times to say. Thin soled shoes that do nothing to protect his feet from the scraps and broken metal. Ahsoka's clothes are too big on her. The oversized hood doing its best to hide her montrals.

  
He motions for her to stack up on the door, they draw their sabers and he holds up a hand..... The door flys off its hinges. Everything in the room hits the far wall. The desk shatters. Slamming a body between it and the wall. Dazed, the Captian tries to right himself off the floor reaching for a gun. Kenobi pulls with the force and sends the weapon scattering uselessly behind him. Sear tries to scramble back but Ahsoka pins him, held flat with the force. Effectively restrained to the floor, unable to struggle against invisible bonds. He's a Kage. Gold eyes, now frantic with confusion. Gray skin and brown tattoos scattering across it.

  
She leans almost casually against the wall, kicking a piece of shattered wood out of the way. "We have a set of very specific questions for you Captian. You answer them and we can both get on with our lives. If not we can transfer you to a republic Star Destroyer and you can answer them there."

  
He nods almost imperceptibly. Face setting into a mask of steel.

  
Kenobi stands blocking the door and puts just a hint of persuasion behind his voice. "There's a list of Jedi currently held POW by the Separatists, and their locations. We know you have access. "

  
"I knew I knew your face." The man eyes lock on Ahsoka. "Your Skywalkers Tortuga bitch. You're on a different list because we have your master." His face morphs into one of hysterical laughter. His mouth opens with more words by they never come out. His air supply cut off. His face slowly changes shades of color, body spasms, mouth open and twisted trying to gasp for air that won't come. When she lets go it clamps firmly shut again as his face dissolves back into the same steel mask.

  
Ahsoka's frustration starts to leak past her shields. Kenobi takes a step forward to stop her but her hands already twisted slightly and minute late the Captain's composure finally starts to crumble as rational thinking is overcome by the need to breathe. All sorts of nasty things happen to the body when it thinks it's going to suffocate. Muscles cramp and spasm. But most importantly is the brain thinks it's dying if that's logical or not. 

  
Kenobi finally decides its gone to far. More than to far. "Padawan Tano." He puts enough force and enough Force behind it that she stops. Eyes turning on him with fury for just a moment before she reigns herself in. Whatever she may be feeling gone from her face and the force. "Where not going to get anything more out of him here." He says.

  
"Yes, Master Kenobi."

Hands and everything else sweating from the heat he redresses the unconscious Kage. Covering him in the same worker's outfits that adorn the rest of the factories population. 

  
One of the many advantages of the force is that they don't have to go out the same way they came in. As such as they drop easily from the jarred window frame. Cool air a shock against his skin. 

  
They ditch the stolen speeder several blocks from the ship. Carrying the Kage the rest of the way. In the same manner, one might carry a drunken friend. It's agonizingly slow and Kenobi wouldn't need the force to feel the hostility leaking off of Ahsoka. 

  
"See you made a new friend," Cody says when they board the shuttle.

  
"Well, you know us. It's what were best at." Says Ahsoka. Her voice dryer than all of Jakku.

 

  
Later....

 

  
"Sick fuck." A clone jeered. "Get him tied up."

  
They're docked back on the Negotiator. The prisoner is just starting to regain consciousness as he's passed off to Cody and the rest of a squadron.

  
"Go get some rest Ahsoka," Kenobi says.

  
She nods and steps off the shuttle headed for the guest quarters she was staying in. Looking bone tired just by the way she walks. They'll have words about what happened later. For now, he follows Cody to the brig. 

  
The prisoner is still not nearly conscious enough to do anything other than weekly protest as the troopers rather roughly shove him into a cell. A second later the ray shield goes up and he stops struggling entirely. Perhaps recognizing the futility of his actions. The drugs keep him from moving from his sprawled position on the floor. He actually looks amazing peaceful. Face slack. His cell is one in a row, but at current, the only one occupied.

  
Anakin had once made a comment about they're brig that Obi-wan could never quite let go. Every time he's here he remembers it, if in a detached way. 

  
_"These places are so bright, clean doesn't seem right."_

  
_"Why is that?"_

  
_"It's a prison. Terrible things happen here." It was said with blunt indifference._

  
_Obi-wan opened his mouth to object. They were civil to their prisoners. Within reason._

  
_"What forcing yourself into someone's mind isn't terrible."_

  
_Obi-wan was still mulling over what words to use but his former padawan beat him to it._

  
_"Have you ever been in prison this clean tough. It just feels weird. Like a mask or something."_

  
"Please state you name and rank for the record," Kenobi says. Taking a seat in the chair several feet back from the ray shield.

  
"My name, for the record, is Rackham Sear of Quarzite. I am a captain of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and I do not seek the mercy of tyrants."

  
"If you cooperate with us we are willing to relocate you to...."

  
He starts laughing. It's a slow, forced sound. As if distorted by the drugs still coursing through his system. "You want to know where Skywalker is?"

  
"Do tell."

  
"As if." He sneered, "As if I would whore myself out to you for my own comfort. You who would steal the minds of those who oppose you. Go ahead Jedi rape my mind until I forget who I am. I'll never forget who you are. And I'll never make myself your bitch."

  
"Well, I see where not getting anywhere today. Remind me, how fast to Kage metabolisms work? Just holler when you get thirsty." He stood up, then paused half way to the door. "I care nothing for your comfort Sear. But I'd have to use other more unpleasant methods to get what I need. You can't keep us out of your mind forever. You'd only me suffering for, your pride."

  
Sear said nothing. Setting his jaw and grinding his teeth together.

  
"As I said. Just let me know when you want some water."

 

  
Meanwhile....

 

  
Ahsoka tried to rest. She really did. But her mind was running far too fast for her to sleep. Meditating yielded much the same results. In the end, she found herself in the mess hall, empty of people at this time of night.

  
She was sitting on top of one of the tables. legs stretched out in front of her using the wall for back support. She held a cup of hot chocolate in her hands, cup close to burning her fingers. Not really drinking it, just staring at it. Stubbornly holding back the tears that threatened to fall. She would not cry, she was a Jedi, it would be shameful.

  
Of course, she sensed him coming. And considered bolting out the other door. But in a rare moment of indecision, she found that somehow when the door opened she was still seated on the table.

  
"Commander Tano." He was obviously surprised to find her here.

  
"Hey, Rex."

  
"Trouble sleeping sir."

  
"Yeah. You too?"

  
"Nightmares, sir." Clearly uncomfortable, he'd been sorting through the same box of ration bars for longer than was at all necessary."

  
"It's just Ahsoka right now Rex."

  
"Yes.....Ahsoka." He relaxed a little. Finally choosing a ration bar and sitting down, on the bench, at the other end of her table. "So what's got you up at this hour. -- n-not that it's my place to pry sir." 

  
"It's alright." She paused. Almost bringing the cup to her lips then stopping and setting in beside her. "Sometimes when I was really down, Anakin would make hot chocolate. Sometimes it would cheer me up and sometimes..... But it always helped at least a little."

  
Rex just nodded in understanding.

  
"Alright, your turn."

  
"I.....I don't want to bore you with my problems sir.”

  
She got the feeling he was sincere so she switched topics completely. “General Kenobi is going to kill me in the morning.”

  
“Sir?”

  
“We got the target.” Rex had been on another opp when it went down but she had no doubt the entire GAR new about their prisoner by now. “But....let's just say I lost my temper a little.” She knew she should feel guilty. But somehow she couldn't bring herself to have any regret.

  
“We’ve all been a little....out of wack lately. I’m sure General Kenobi will understand.”

  
“Yeah.” She really wasn't sure at all. “We were right in the middle of a prank war. Every time I wake up I keep expecting to be sabotaged by one of his stupid, stupid pranks. Then I remember.....It’s weird because I can tell he’s not dead. I keep forgetting and then I run into that damned brick wall.” She knew she wasn’t really making sense to someone who didn't have the force.

  
“Did you here about the time Skywalker dyed half the 501st pink?”

  
“What!?”

  
Rex chuckled. “Pink dye in the showers. He must have used the force to wedge the dye up in there because we had to cut the kirffing plumbing apart to get it out. By then It was too late and we’d all been sprayed down. Didn’t come off for a month.” He arched his eyebrows. “You know he also threw me off a cliff once.”

  
As they both dissolved into laughter Ahsoka was suddenly struck by how long it had been since she laughed, really laughed. It was short lived and tinged with sadness. But it was something.

  
Ahsoka looked at Rex. Fresh tears abruptly threating to form at the reminder that her Master wasn’t there.

  
“Commander.” Rex asked “What do you think will happen, to the 501st? If we don’t get Skywalker back in time.” He suddenly sounded vulnerable, and very young. It wasn’t often Ahsoka was reminded that he was actually younger than her.

  
“I don’t know Rex.” She wiped her eyes, scolding herself. Technically she was still his superior officer. And if she had to cry should would at least do it in private dammit. “Probably the 501st will be split up, integrated into other battalions.” She wasn't telling him anything he didn't already know. She didn't think he even knew why he'd asked. The hopeful part of him must....have been hoping to hear something different.  

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter fought me a bit. I hope it's coherent. 
> 
> The title is from lyrics to Basement by Gemini Syndrom. 
> 
> I don't really ship Ahsoka and Rex so their just good friends in this. 
> 
> The Update is just minor fixes and edits. They were driving me nuts. I'm not abandoning this story by any means. Real life started again and finding time to write is tough. But I'll get the next chapter out soon.


	4. Zyemus Karisk Stebe Tvarkak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See end notes for TW in this chapter. It's a little (not a lot I don't think) but a little graphic so if you're worried go ahead and look at the triggers. Otherwise, I hate spoiling things. 
> 
> On languages: So Sith technically has a declarative word order. Meaning verb/subject/object/. But for the sake your author's headache and terrible grammar skill. Let's just not. Wookieepedia that said that "k" indicated plurality so I'm using that well actually "kut" is listed but the examples just had a k? Anyway.....Enjoy. (Just the title is in Sith) 
> 
> There's a little Mando'a in this but it's mostly just cussing. But I did discover that -e suffix is plural after a consonant -se is after a vowel.

Troop reassignments had had all the proper paperwork put through. The 501st was due to be split up between 6 different battalions all in need of padding for their losses. However for the moment that had been indefinitely stalled. Cody couldn't quite bring himself to be grateful. 

As it was he had been put in charge of sorting through two battalions worth of troopers and two fleets worth of republic officers to find the information leak. 

The problem was that, so far, the only thing they had to go on was it had to be someone who could have known that Ahsoka was injured. And found his location. That....While still not a thing the separatists should have known.....It wasn't exactly classified knowledge at the time.  

How were they getting the information out? If it was delivered by hand it might be harder to track. The would have to confirm the whereabouts of everyone on the list for every minute of a little under a day. It was a problem that could spiral out of control quickly. They would have to do interviews. Roomers would spread. 

It was, thankfully, much more likely that the leak had been sent out digitally. And digital information always left a trail. 

He typed a com to Rex. " _Are you free at the moment? I could use your help for a little strategy session_." Thanks to Skywalker, Rex had picked up quite the hobby for computers and mechanics. It came in handy on occasion. 

_"I can be there in 10."_

_"I'll be in my office."_

He took a deep breath blinked sleep out of his eyes and returned to staring at the list of names on a pad. Eyes now periodically glancing at the clock. Exactly ten minutes later the only thing that had changed was the numbers on it.

The door chimed and he let Rex in. The Captain casually leaning against the edge of the desk. 

"If the leak was sent from somewhere on one of the ships do you think you could find it." Cody asked. 

"Probably. Every transmission sent shipboard has to route through that ship's network. Even if it's a personal device. The computer keeps a log of all that data. But it's programmed to monitor information being sent out. If they managed to fool it the first time it means we have to go through it pretty much by hand. With the number of ships in the fleet, it will take day's at least." 

He sighed. "Grab a few people you can trust to help and show us the ropes." 

* * *

Rackham struggled to focus through his drug addled mind. Really, he thought not for the first time and probably not for the last that the Jedi where the standing pillars of hypocrisy in the galaxy. Bastions of peace, preaching compassion to all, understanding and kindness to all. Yet here he was captured, imprisoned, and tortured by Jedi. 

The could deny it all they wanted but in the past....days?.....he'd been drugged, chained, denied food and water beyond the bare minimum to keep him alive. And locked in a cell hardly big enough to lay in. A bucket in the corner qualified as a 'fresher and his hand's stayed chained in front of him. The lights never went off.

All while that Jedi tried to pried at his mind until he was sure he'd black out from it. He tried to fight. He tried to stay calm. Tried not to scream. Tried not to panic. But the drugs made it hard to focus. And even as he thought of it now panic clawed at the edges of his haze.

Only the Jedi could be so self-righteous as to think this didn't qualify as torture. 

He should try to kill himself. Would if he was smart. Go out with some dignity. Go out keeping his people safe. But he didn't....he hadn't tried. Because he wanted to live. Fuck, he wanted to live. 

"How are we doing today?" 

He full body flinched at the voice. Already raw wrists pulling up against the cuffs. Refusing to move to face the red hum of the shield. 

"I think we should try something different today." The voice continued. "Today I'm just going to talk to you. We'll even let the drugs clear out of your system so you can think better."  

And so the Jedi talked and he tried not to listen. Glad for the reprieve even as the Coruscanti accent grated on him. He wasn't sure how much time passed. Time had already become relative to him. He knew that was a bad sign but between the lights and the drugs..... 

He was suspicious sure. Of why the Jedi would give him this apparent mercy. But as he felt his mind clearing relief temporarily outweighed suspicion. But slowly....slowly he felt it. A thing that started out as a mild feeling of dizziness that crept into nausea. A fever taking him until chills crawled up his spine and muscles spasmed. Rackham realized what was happening and, not for the first time in his life, remembered what hate felt like. 

* * *

 Taz was only about an hour into his shift in medical when the alarm on his wrist monitor went off. The alert popped open, _"Prisoner 675571 vitals spiking to dangerous levels. Immediate attention required."_  

"Lockout your with me. Blade take over." He grabbed the emergency kit from its place by the wall and took off down the hallway troopers scrambling to get out of his way. 

General Kenobi sat in a plastic looking chair dragging a to a few feet in front of the cell. "It's alright." He said. Never moving from his spot or turning to look at them "He's just going through withdrawals it will be out of his system in a day or so." 

Beyond him, the Kage had curled in on himself. His body shaking. Jaw clenched as he undoubted tried to suppress his pain. 

Taz felt a wedge of _angerconfuusionfear_ lodge in his gut "General may I have a word with you." 

Kenobi finally turned and looked at him eye's sharp as always despite the deep bags that had bruised underneath them. Planning, calculating. "Of course Taz. Lockout watch him while we step out for a moment."  

A few yards down the hallway they turned into an empty conference room. He heard the door lock with a click. The General leaned back again the wall crossing his arms and looking at Taz in that way Jedi had. It made all of his training all of his conditioning want to stare at the floor a grovel. Instead, he just squared his shoulders. "General as a medic I can't abide by the treatment of the prisoner." 

"How so?" The Jedi's voice held no intonation. 

He took a breath to steady himself. "Sir, you're allowing him to go stone cold off the drugs with nothing to ease the symptoms. And our sensors show he's on the edge of malnourished. We've gotten nothing from him. Our time would be better spent hunting down Ventress." 

"He was the result of our last attempt to hunt down Ventress. All the leads have gone cold. As you well know. She's disappeared. That Separatist Captain in there is our best hope of locating Anakin and the other hostages. Taz I haven't violated any regulations." 

"Shabuir laandur di'kut" Cody had always said his heart would be the end of him apparently today was the day. "Cut the crap General." He realized he was yelling. "Don't you dare act like your ignorant. Not with me. I'm the one who patched you up after every time the seppies got a hold of you. I saw what those hut'uune did to you. I held you when you were cut off from the force while those damned chemicals worked their way out. I bandaged the burns around your neck and the whip marks on your back." He paused. "I saw how they tried to break you. Which is why I know you know exactly what you're doing to that man." 

"Anakin and everyone on that list is vital to the war effort." His right hand had clenched into a fist. 

Taz nearly snorted. "Vital to the war effort....General every Jedi we've ever lost has been vital to the war effort. This is personal. Don't act like it's not." 

"The Jedi code forbids attachment." 

This time Taz checked his voice to something more reasonable. "Yes, I know. Don't take this the wrong way sir but.....Wasn't he your apprentice. From what I understand that means you basically raised him. I may not be Jedi but I've seen you go back for him. I see you check on him when he's hurt. No one could possibly judge you for being attached. But that.....in there.....that was torture. General you need to check yourself." 

The color had slowly drained from his face and if he didn't know his General better he'd say he the man was near tears. "You're right Taz.........I..........Please stabilize the prisoner. Make him comfortable." 

And with that Kenobi walked out. As close to running from a room as it was possible for a Jedi to get. Save in the heat of battle. 

Taz tried to slow his heart rate....What had he just done? Clones had been transferred, demoted, _reconditioned_ for less. He took stock of his head and didn't find any regret. Just shock. The whole situation felt surreal, impossible. Clones didn't say those types of things to Jedi. 

His Jedi didn't do those types of things. It just wasn't supposed to happen. 

* * *

Rex stood guard at the one end of the corridor flanked by Fives and Echo. At the other end stood Cody flanked by Waxer and Biol. In the level that made up the crew and officer quarters every exit had been locked and was guarded by the most trusted of the 212th and the 501st. The rest of the men stood side by side in parade rest lining the hallways. Eyes straight forward and unblinking while their rooms tossed. 

He hated this. When they found that hut'uun traitor whatever they did would be too good for them. 

After hours of pouring through data, he'd found encoded transmissions on two private comm channels. Both outgoing. That wasn't totally unusual but the way the data packets were shoved in behind layers and layers of other things. Other things that when actually read meant nothing. But would likely work to be picked up on an algorithm as perfectly innocent. And whoever did it had been smart. Individually the typed messages and the data packs meant nothing. Only when the message and the compressed files for every third transmission where swapped could they be decoded to make sense. But there it was. All of their troop movements spelled out and sent to the enemy. They were still working on decoding all the messages. Trying to figure out exactly what had been sent but....bad just didn't cover it. 

The rooms were searched with quiet pragmatic efficiency. The lights glared full blast making the durasteel hallways feel unnaturally bright. No one moved, no one said a word. Eyes never moving from the walls in front of them. The silence only broken by footsteps and the occasionally _"clear"_ over the radio. The latter heard only by him and Cody. 

Minutes stretched out. Threatening to fall into a sort of quiet misery. 

 _"Vod I think we found something."_ Dogma's voice came over the comm channel and Rex nearly jumped out of his skin. Restraining the reaction to a twist of his face invisible behind the helmet.  _"Captain, Commander....It was in Fives room. His code was used to unlock and send the transmissions."_

 _"That doesn't necessarily mean he's to blame."_ Said Rex.  _"Just let me talk to him a moment."_

" _Keep your comms open and take him into the lift. We don't want to spook him but we need containment."_ Cody's voice was cold.  _"I'll circle around."_  

 _"Copy that."_ With a button press, he let Fives into the channel. _"With me. We have something we need to check."_  

Fives followed trustingly into the lift. Leaving Echo to guard it. 

Rex switched the brake lever and the lift came to a halting stop. He took off his helmet. Protocol be damned. If anyone asks he can say it was in attempt to calm the suspect. 

Fives does the same. Looking confused. 

"Fives....we have a mole somewhere in the fleet." He doesn't think he succeeds in keeping his voice normal. 

"So that's what this is all about." Not worried. Just angry. 

"They found the transmitter....In your quarters. Accessed with your codes." 

His face fell as if he'd been physically slapped. Eyes going wide. He takes a step back, or maybe he stumbles. "Rex why would I...." 

"That's Captain to you soldier." What he wants to say is,  _I know you'd never betray us._ He wants to say,  _We'll find out who set you up._ He wants to say,  _I'll get you out of this vod. It will be okay._ "And you had better have one hell of a story as to how your pad got stolen. Repeatedly I might add. And without you noticing" 

Fives doesn't move. Doesn't even look like he's breathing. He just stands almost at attention staring at the ground. Hands clenched tight and face drawn in a look of concentration. "Good soldiers follow orders." 

"What? Five's who..." 

"Good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers follow orders." Rex catching him as he collapses. Words still pouring out of his mouth. His body convulses. 

"We need a medic in here." Rex is on his knees now. Holding Fives and shouting into his comm. 

A few seconds later the lift doors are pried open and a medical team pours in flanked by a strike unit. Ready to take them both out. He barely notices them. "I think it's a seizure."  

_"GoodsoildersfollowordersGoodsoildersfolloworders."_

"Get him up onto a stretcher. Everyone back the hell up he's not a threat to anyone." 

The strike team backs off slightly and Cody takes off his helmet as the medics carry the stretcher out. "Captain if you'll come with me for debrief." 

Rex's face twists into anger and refusal. 

"You need to let to medics do their jobs. Nothing will happen without your approval." He steps forward and puts a hand on Rex's shoulder. 

Rex shoves it off. "You can debrief me on the way to the med bay." 

"Yes Captain." Despite the words, there's no hint of formality. It just sounds like pity." 

* * *

The ship-wide intercom switched on. " _This is General Kenobi. It has been discovered that two hours ago an unknown traitor on board this ship broadcast our location and complement to the enemy. A trap has been set for us ladies and gentlemen. I trust that by now you all now my protocol for traps."_ His voice held a hint of amusement before it vanished. _"But rest assured it will be on our terms."_

* * *

"Gold squadron on me. Where going straight through. Let's give them hell boys." Ahsoka sat in the cockpit of a red and white Delta-7B Aethersprite.  

They were the distraction. They were going in to make a big of a bang as possible while Cody led a squadron around through the nebula. The separatist dreadnoughts would try to dive under the planet as it was the only practical route left open to them. And that was where they had a couple of heavy cruisers parked. From there it would be shooting fish in a barrel.

When Rex heard the plan had given her his trademark look of disapproval but hadn't said anything. His silence meant it wasn't the tactical proficiency he was concerned about. 

Her fighter launched and the rest of them followed. There own cannons fired from the destroyer. Thinning out the vultures before they could engage. The planets own orbital defense systems kicking in. Delphon was under republic control. But that could change in minutes. 

The sound that makes it inside the hull of a fighter is muted some. Her's had been modified to block more on account of her montrals. But it's still deafening. The trigger kicks back in his hand with simulated feedback. The darkened outlines of ships contrast with the bright colors of missiles and lasers. Interrupted by fires that bath everything in an eerie orange.  

A few seconds before there they get in range of the lead ship the vultures hit them. The comm crackles and cuts off with a yell. Something explodes just over her shoulder and the ship tries to kick sideways.   

Her ship hits bombing level and pulls up feet above the enemies hull. The rest of them follow seconds later. Fire following in their wake. 

She pulls her fighter around the edge of the dreadnaught. The planet hanging under her head and the ship just yards above her feet. "Focus fire in on that generator. It's failing, let's take it out."  

The force screams. 

She tears the ship up. A shot skids a foot below her. Right under her head. 

That came from her own ships. 

"Gold squad what the fuck was that. Watch your fire." 

Silence. More bullets. There shooting at  _her_.  

She takes the ship and dives around the structures of the dreadnaught. Using the curves and cannons as cover. 

The force is yelling and it sounds like death. The physical pain in her head amplifies until everything else is drowned out. 

She sees her hands still on the controls and pulls without look where to. Her focus is gone. A Jedi reduced to feral instinct and panic. Shields thrown up in an attempt to block out the screaming in the force. 

"Tano to Gold Squadron." Her voice comes out high with dread.

"Tano go Gold leader."  

"Rex!" 

"Tano to command." 

Faintly she feels the wing of her ship hit. 

The controls go blurry. She's hyperventilating. By memory she fires the boosters once. Enough to shove her towards the planet. 

Then she takes a deep breath. And cuts the power. 

The ship blips off all the sensors and as it falls no one bothers to fire. 

Druasteel heats red with reentry. Sound narrows down the to roar of wind and the creaking of metal. She tries to focus on it. To keep herself present and not in the howling void. 

Below her the mountains slowly grow. Coming into more and more detail. It's dark. But Togruta eyes can see fine. She waits until she can see trees and hits the switch. Her astromech wails and pulls up. Spinning the fighter upright to gravity.  

The ship hits the ground hard and bounces. Scoring a line in the forest. Trees crack like twigs, branches grabbing. A hard knock to the ground takes out the right thruster and the ship goes over its side. Tumbling into a lopsided spin at speeds that make vision useless. Her body battered helplessly against the harness. 

Far too slowly the ship plows to a stop. Ahsoka hits the quick release on the straps and tries the latch before just kicking the already cracked roof out. 

She jumps to the ground and stumbles. Moving through each of her muscles to check nothing's broken. Nothing is. In fact she doesn't feel much at all. Her body is probably in shock.

The same can't be said for her astromech. R3-J9. Not a droid she knew well. Her beloved fighter lays in a crumbled heap. Smoke coming form the remains of the fuel line. 

Ahsoka takes one last look at the ship and a look at the sky, dancing with all the colors of the slaughter, and runs.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Torture, Drug withdrawals. (Remeber the tag about Jedi not being innocent.) 
> 
> On that note considering the kind of interrogations we saw during the Clone Wars series. I don't see it as a huge stretch for the Jedi to use psychological torture techniques. And through their weird Jedi filter not seeing it as such. Especially as I am going for a darker feel in this universe that more mirrors Rouge One in the showing the brutality on both sides. 
> 
> I don't see Obi-Wan doing that kind of thing as the norm. But to find Anakin.....
> 
> So this is the last chapter before the story really gets going. Enjoy! 
> 
> I am aware there is no sound in space but Star Wars has always added sound to their space battles therefor in the Star Wars universe there is sound in space. Simmarlriy with the computers and the transmissions. 
> 
> I am also aware that in cannon? legends? I don't care so I don't keep track of which is which. But anyway Rex had his chip removed and saved helped Ahsoka. But here that never happened. 
> 
> Ao3 why is your update system broken WTF


	5. Merry Go Round (I Don't Want To See You Drown)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm hoping to update once a week from now on.....Sorry about that guys.....All the usual excuses. You know how it is.  
> Click end notes for TW on this chapter.
> 
> I feel that some of you may not like where I've gone with this chapter. But it is part of a larger plan. Trust. 
> 
> When I googled United Republic before using the name I didn't get any one concrete thing. But if it does have any heated real-world affiliations I'm not aware of I apologize in advance. No resemblance to any real world country or organization was intended.

**Two Months After Order 66....**

Naara Ryn weaved in between the crowds of the market. Despite the filth of the streets her bare feet danced lightly over the gravel movements unhindered by her age. Lightsabers tucked safely away under her jacket. Hood coming up to hide the white and gold of her montrals.  

Florrum had failed to yield to either the Republic or the Confederacy. Somehow either by gross neglect or pure stubborn talent the planet had maintained it's outlaw ways. And along with them it's independence from such things as galactic wars. So far the fledgling Empire and the now United Republic were proving to be no different. Either unable or unwilling to bring the world under their thumb. That made it the perfect place for people like her. People on the run.  

She dodged between the masses of people releasing a huff of annoyance into the force.   

The place she was looking for was a rusted and run down joint. Sitting nearly unnoticed just at the end of the market. Beyond it, the dessert rolled out in waves. The dry earth hard packed save the occasional hearty life that lived there.  

A sign hung on the front of the pub the letters wearing off so that one had to stand and puzzle out what it said. But really there was no need. Upon stepping through the door she was assaulted by the banging of percussion instruments and voices raised to talk over them. A mash-up of food smells hit her nose. Any one of which was possibly pleasant but together just smelled strange. And a sign spelled out in gigantic letters across the back of the bar  _The Broken Wagon._

Some might have found it disquieting. But she had learned to take a weary comfort in being in this sort of loud mishmash of people. All the noise and the force in them surrounding her in a kind of cautious warmth that being around life, any life, even that such as here, half of which would wish her harm, had to offer. She sat up at the bar leaning her elbows on the table and examining not for the first time the mash of posters and signs that adorned the walls. Some faded and new ones plastered over top. The bar stool creaked as she shifted, careful not to pick up splinters off the table.  

"Ah Naara my lovely precious Naara. What can I do for you today?" The enthusiastic Weequay bounded up to her and kissed her hand. Starting to pour a drink even before she'd asked. 

"That'll be all for now. I'm actually here on business." 

"Business? Nonsense. A lady like you should never have to be anywhere on business. Be like me. This" He waved his hands around for emphases. "is my only business. I stay out of all the trouble out there and so could you. If you come work for me." 

They'd had this discussion more that once so instead of responding she simplified it to the look she'd perfected on the Separatist army. 

"Okay, okay. If you need anything let me know. I'll just be right over here." With that he strode to the other side of the bar. Looking no less enthused by what he found there. 

She shook her head suppressing a fond laugh. 

They staggered arrival times so her contact would most likely be a few minutes. She contented herself with sipping cheap beer and listing in on the conversations filtering from the bar. Every one of them clear to her senses. 

"You know the drill 20 credits kid." The Rodian at the other end of the bar looked ready to fall asleep.

"Come on Varo I've got 15 here. Get the rest to you later."  

"Twenty or nothing." 

"What about something else?" 

"You know I only take credits." 

The kid (How old was he? 19? 20?) slammed his head down on the table in frustration. Making no attempt to hide the jitters. He sighed in apparent resignation and the Rodian turned away. 

The force did....something. Narra didn't take time to analyze it because the kid was over the table and had grabbed the Rodian's bag knocking him over the head. (She didn't feel sorry for him. He'd been an asshole anyway.) He was half way to the door and everyone who should have stopped him, staff, bouncers, the Rodian's friends, just sort of didn't. Two tripped, a few stared dumbly, and a bouncer was about a mile late to do anything. His hand reaching out a few feet behind where the thief had just been. 

Narra stood up and walked out of the bar. Unnoticed in the chaos. If he was a force user and if the empire hadn't gotten ahold of him, she would. It was too important to do anything else. 

After a message to her contact to reschedule, she set off to search the city. It was actually less of a city and more of an outlaw camp turned refugee town. And a small one at that. Perhaps a few hundred people. That being said her target was proving surprisingly hard to track down. It was not just anyone who could so casually avoid a Jedi Shadow. No, this one was worth her time. 

In the end she resorted to a sweep of the town. Methodically moving through every street and alley. Feeling the force for the thief's presence. Normally a search like that called for dozens of people but he was unlikely to wander while distracted by that stash he'd stolen. And the town would only take a few hours to search herself. 

It only took her a little over an hour. She found his force signature bogged down and creeping out into the alleyway from the cheap motel room he'd holed himself in. She doubted he'd even paid for it. Paint was chipping off the stucco walls. Latch on the window already broken. She let herself in. Carpet swarming up with dust around her feet. 

Sure as daylight. There he was, propped up against the wall, eyes glassy as he scrambled to gain his footing. Hands going to his belt as if reaching for a weapon. The actions so quick most would likely miss it. He was too thin. Cheeks sunken in along with the heavy bags under his eyes. A deep scar scraped over his left eye and many lighter ones marred his face. Near invisible in the light. 

She put her hands up playacting. "I'm not going to hurt you. Or kick you out of the hotel room you didn't pay for."  

"Fine." He'd finally gotten his feet under him and was using the wall for support. "What do you want then." 

"Just to talk with you. That was quite the trick you pulled back there." 

He shrugged. "Got lucky." 

This had the potential to go very badly. But she was never any good at subtly or beating around the bush and was too old to try now. "You have the force no?" 

"Yes. And I'm also a long lost prince who's just returned from his exile into the wild space." 

"You have the force." she said, sounding nothing but rather clever. "I suspect you already know this but perhaps not. Either way the Empire will be hunting you. You have no reason to trust me but if you let me I know a few tips for hiding from the Empire." 

"I'm fine thanks." 

"Look I'm not offering you much. But if you keep running around like this your going to get caught. I teach you to keep that force signature in check. Give you a place to stay while you get back on your feet." She didn't mention that would almost definitely require him being sober. 

"Avoided the Empire so far haven't I." His eyes kept going to the window and the door. Casing the room. 

"You've gotten lucky." 

"Look. I don't want your help. And I'm really, very high. So If you could please leave."

She didn't move. "What's you name?" 

There was a choked off pulse of fear and his stance shifted. Despite his words he was standing on his own two feet without support. His speech wasn't slurred. Not nearly as gone as he would like her to believe then. She sat down on the floor. 

"You could be with the Empire. The Republic. You could be a slave trader or a bounty hunter. Plenty of people looking for gunning for Force users since they killed the Jedi." 

"I could be but I am none of those things. Use the force or maybe just your common sense and you'd know that. It doesn't make sense for anyone of those people to use someone like me when they could send guns." She stopped to sympathy from catching in her voice. It wouldn't be wanted. 

"Hate to break it to you but my....ha, connection to the force is a little muddled. Besides. You don't have any reason to help me. So if you would politely go kriff yourself. Tell your masters the same."  

"No masters. Just me."

"Then I repeat my original question. What the fuck do you want."  

"To help people like you avoid the Empire." 

"Just around in circles with you isn't it." 

She had been thinking much the same thing but would never voice that. "Fine you don't have to trust me. But your welcome to come with me ba..." 

"I'm not going anywhere with you." 

"Look, you need to hide from the Empire. That's a fact. You know this or someone like you wouldn't still be running free. And you're not doing a very good job of hiding at the moment. Considering it took me less than an hour to find you. The inquisitors have more men, they'll do it in half the time......I propose an alliance. From one force sensitive to another." This was a risk. A big one perhaps. But she had a feeling, the force told her. No specific reasons on why. Just a feeling. Carefully she dropped her shields. Sure to keep her signature small lest someone nearby was eavesdropping. The kid's eyes went wide with a look she strangely couldn't place. Seeming frozen there as she placed her saber, unlit in front of her. Seemingly all at once some of the hostility drained out of him and he slumped back against the wall. As if it had never been there. 

"You know you shouldn't be like this." He said. 

"Like what?" 

"So Jedi." 

She just tilted her head. 

"Like you said. I'm being hunted by the Empire. You don't want the heat I've got on me." 

"Trying to scare me now?" 

"Just being honest." 

"I'm sure you are." 

* * *

The _Valkyrie_ was a Ghtroc 720. The ship had perhaps seen better days. But she was still fast and steady. Although from the outside she looked almost neglected, part of the ruse, inside she was nothing short of immaculate. Surfaces cleaned and polished. All of the sparse possessions neatly stacked. Although as the weeks dragged on there would be the occasional water glass left out. A cloak draped over the back of a chair. It almost made the ship feel comforting in a way....like they live there instead of just existing in it, borrowing it for a  time. Although that was a silly illusion to have. Even now. Especially now. Ahsoka found herself, as she often did, curled up in the co-pilot seat staring out the viewport. Not thinking of anything in particular. Mostly she thought of the cooling systems that needed repair. The stabilizers that were on the fritz again. 

"Want to talk about it." 

She'd felt him come up of course. And as always Quinlan Vos didn't know when to keep quiet. "No, not really." 

He didn't pry further. Just sat down in the pilot's seat. Ahsoka tried to resume her musing out the window but as it happened neither of them did well with silences. "We'll have to stop and resupply soon. Where nearly out of Shig and you know how Obi-wan gets." 

 "That I do." His lips turned up and the corners a bit as he mindlessly toyed with the dial on the broken radio."Speaking of....supply runs. How's our latest lead going." 

"It looks good. One of my contacts said that the empire is planning to set up an outpost on (outer rim planet). Because it's such a small time operation there being minimal with the security. New outpost means and abundance of supply ships heading in and out. Exactly our kind of grab." 

"Someday you're going to have to introduce me to this agent of yours. I could kiss them" 

"Are you sure about that. They could be a Hut." 

"I wouldn't care." 

They fell into a light laughter. And for a little while, in moments like this, it was almost like breathing again. Almost. None of them slept much these days and for the most part they'd given up trying until their bodies demanded it. So the chronometer read 2:48 and neither of them had thought about it. 

"Does anyone else feel that?" Obi-wan was suddenly standing in the doorway. Leaning heavily on his left leg. 

Ahsoka nearly fell out of her seat. "Feel what." 

"There catching up to us." 

"Who?" 

"Not sure yet." 

"He's right though." Said Quin. "It's been weeks since we've run into anyone serious. That's too big of a coincidence. Someone's got a plan." 

She breathed deep and looked back out at the white lines of hyperspace, willing the newly tightened knot in her stomach to uncurl. They were safe right now. But they couldn't stay here forever. Ships ran out of fuel after all. 

Obi-wan looked between the two of them "Well sense were all up I suppose I'll make tea." 

She moved to help but he waved her off. Mumbling something about being perfectly capable of walking. 

 _I'm not sure how much longer we can run._ It wasn't the first time the thought occurred to her and it probably would not be the last. But she didn't dare voice it. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Drug use
> 
> Unrelated to that Shig is a type of Mandalorian tea. Said to be calming to the nerves.


End file.
